On the Lookout

More films I'm dying to watch but just can't get my hands on.

Cool Breeze


Hit Man


Sweet Jesus Preacherman


Super Spook

Cover of the Week - Cotton Comes to Harlem

She Speaks

I was going to finish up this week with a review of my favorite Pam Grier film, Coffy, but the more I thought about it I realized I'd said all I need to say about this woman.  If you enjoy any of her films, you will love Coffy.  Instead, I figured I'd let the first lady of blaxsploitation tell her own story.  I dug around on YouTube and found some great candid interviews.  Kareem Abdul-Jabbar?  I had no idea.







plus a bonus...Jack Hill on Pam Grier

The Elusive Pam

These are the films I just can't seem to get my hands on, which by looking at them, might be a good thing. Be warned, these trailers are not for all ages.

The Arena


The Big Bird Cage


Women in Cages

Sheba Baby

Even when rated PG, Pam Grier can still kick some...butt.  If she can go PG, I can try as well.  Writer/director William Girdler should be given credit for trying to take the excessive sleaze, violence and sex out of a genre that is well known for it, but did he succeed in making a good film?

Sheba Shayne, a Chicago PI, is back in her hometown of Louisville KY to help her father, a loan officer, who is getting shaken down by some thugs.  He thinks everything is under control, but soon he is as dead as can be.  This doesn't sit well with Sheba, so she teams up with ex-flame Brick (Austin Stoker) to seek retribution.

Sheba Baby is exactly what I expected, and that's not a good thing.  Coming off of Black Mama, White Mama, it was good to get some plot with my Pam, but this movie just felt sanitized from the get-go.  The script was rather by the numbers, the acting especially weak, and the direction was nothing to point out.  Awkward would be the word I use most to describe Sheba Baby.

I'm sure Ms. Grier relished the chance to act with her top on, I just wish she had chosen a better movie.  This would have made a very solid television pilot, but as a film it just needed more everything.

Black Mama, White Mama

Remember back about twenty-four hours, when I mentioned that perhaps Foxy Brown was the tiniest bit exploitive in the number of times it made Pam Grier take off her clothes?  I now formally apologize to that film.  Compared with today's feature, Black Mama White Mama, it was absolutely wholesome. BMWM only takes 5 minutes to get to a group shower scene, and doesn't stop there.

Pam Grier and Margaret Markov are the "mamas" in question, and they are on the run from the law.  One is a former prostitute, the other a revolutionary, but both dislike the other.  Chained together by a lesbian prison warden (I'm sure this happens all the time), they are forced to act as one in order to survive once they escape.

Who would have thought The Defiant Ones would lead to this?  Jonathan Demme, that's who.  The man behind Silence of the Lambs, Philadelphia, and Something Wild is co-credited with the story, one of three women in prison films he had a hand in.

But don't let his future Oscar fool you into thinking this movie is anything more than a chance to watch beautiful women get naked, fight, and shoot guns.  Black Mama, White Mama is mildly entertaining, but not exactly good.  Pam Grier is great, as always, and Margaret Markov holds her own, despite my disbelief of a blond haired beauty queen being a South American revolutionary.  But hey, the do get to dress up as nuns.  The plot plods along, with tons of exposition as to why these two females are so coveted,(hint, it always involves money), and plenty of narrow escapes.  But just when I was about to get bored, the movie was given a nice dose of Sid Haig and his manic, wild-eyed acting.

You might want to watch this film once, but I doubt it will offer much on repeat viewings.

Foxy Brown

Foxy Brown is out for revenge.  When her boyfriend, undercover cop Michael Anderson, is murdered by mobsters, she takes it upon herself to see that justice is served.   It's a simple plot, but a fantastic movie.

You know a film doesn't have much for a budget when the main villains drive around in a station wagon.  But what Foxy Brown lacks in money, it more than makes up for it in attitude.  And if anything can get the taste of Bucktown out of my mouth, it's a lesbian bar brawl.

Foxy Brown is a film that has it all.  From the shuck and jive hustling of her brother Link (Antonio Fargas), to the very progressive female crime boss Miss Katherine (Kathryn Loder) to drug smuggler Sid Haig, this movie is loaded with people who deserve to get their asses kicked by Pam Grier.  She'll take anybody on with her modest kung-fu skills, and if those are not enough to get the job done, she'll pull a gun from her afro.

Director/writer Jack Hill packed every second of this film with memorable scenes.  When Foxy goes "undercover" as a call girl, watch her emasculate and embarrass a "honkie" corrupt judge with a smile on her face.  Been kidnapped, drugged and held hostage in a deserted ranch?  Not a problem for Foxy.  She'll burn that place down.

Foxy Brown is all about revenge, and it's a joy to watch Pam Grier really get into this role, and out of her clothes.  She's got more nude scenes in just this movie than most modern day actresses do in their career.  Is it exploiting a young actress hungry for roles?  Possibly, but she doesn't really seem to mind.  And it did make her an icon.  Or perhaps she's just the strong, fearless actress needed for roles such as this.

Watch for the debate.  Stay for the plane crash.